A Shepherd's beaked whale stranded by St Heliers Bay in Auckland's Waitematā Harbour. Photo / Supplied- #richardthekayaker
A Shepherd's beaked whale stranded by St Heliers Bay in Auckland's Waitematā Harbour. Photo / Supplied- #richardthekayaker
A rare whale stranded in shallow water at a popular beach on Auckland’s Waitematā Harbour has been set free after gruelling hours-long efforts by volunteers.
One man who spent an hour in water at St Helier’s Bay beside the stricken mammal attempting to stop it crashing against sharp rocks hasbeen hailed “inspirational” by onlookers.
Multiple calls were made to the Department of Conservation from concerned locals after spotting the mammal close to shore while walking alongside a cliff top path at Ladies Bay around 11am yesterday.
DoC wildlife response volunteer Shaun Lee, who was one of the first on scene, said the whale was a “really rare” male Shepherd’s beaked whale.
Volunteer Shaun Lee stayed in the water for an hour, solo, before crews arrived to help. Photo / Supplied - #richardthekayaker
People took to Facebook to remark on Lee’s valiant actions.
“Wow, Shaun, great commitment...great job.. thank you’ while another posted, ‘You are astounding Shaun’ and ‘great work Shaun. You are an inspiration’.
Lee told the Herald a member of the publicwas in the water trying to help the whale which had beached up against rocks.
“We stood on a sandy bank area near the rocks and managed to briefly float the whale, but it came back in again.”
When the man had to leave, Lee was left to fend for himself.
“I was in the water trying to help by myself for maybe 30 minutes to an hour... it was pretty stressful.”
Meanwhile, members of the public back on land called Project Jonah, a non-profit organisation dedicated to helping marine mammals, who arrived just under an hour later.
Project Jonah marine mammal medics and Department of Conservation staff responded to calls for help. Photo / Supplied
Project Jonah-trained marine medic Richard Harri had just got home from work after feeling unwell, when he got a text just after 11am that asked if he could help out with the stricken mammal.
“I thought, ‘Ok, yeah, I can go see’ and went to Achilles Pt, but there was already a volunteer down in the water with it.
“You could see the whale clear as day from up top.”
Lee later posted to social media about the encounter saying “yesterday was incredibly stressful, trying to keep this three-tonne Shepherd’s Beaked Whale off the beach by myself while the tide was going out”.
“Between dodging its powerful tail and big teeth, worrying about the whale, and communicating with experts, it was a short but serious physical and emotional challenge.”
The whale was freed around 6.30pm after several attempts by volunteers to get it into into deeper waters.
Project Jonah spokeswoman Louisa Hawkes told RNZ Shepherd’s beaked whales lived in the deep sea and would only come up to shore if something was wrong.
